Prophecy and End Time Series. - Israel

[Shammu]

I have strapped in for the ride Pastor. Just keep this ride pointing up. That way, I don't get a kink in my neck.

[Shammu]

New 'Arafat' rocket to target major Israeli cities
Late PLO leader 'continuing to hit them even after his death'
Posted: January 10, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Palestinian terror groups have a new rocket named after late PLO leader Yasser Arafat that is capable of reaching Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, a senior terror leader involved in rocket-making told WorldNetDaily, warning his group's missiles will be launched regularly from Judea and Samaria into major Israeli cities.

"Our new rocket, called Arafat 1, will prove to the Israelis that Arafat's spirit is still alive and that he is continuing to fight them and hit them even after his disappearing," said Abu Oudai, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades responsible for coordinating the group's rocket network in Judea and Samaria.

Judea and Samaria are referred to by some as the West Bank, the name coined for the area by Jordan after it annexed the territories in 1948.

The Al Aqsa Brigades was founded in 2000 as the military wing of Arafat's Fatah party and has carried out scores of suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks from Gaza.

Palestinian terror groups have launched hundreds of Qassam rockets from Gaza into nearby Jewish communities the past few years but largely have refrained from firing rockets in Judea and Samaria, which are within range of Israel's major cities. Also roughly 200,000 Jews live within Judea and Samaria.

Qassams are improvised rockets that can travel approximately three miles. Some have traveled further. Israeli officials repeatedly have warned a rocket attack from Judea and Samaria would be met with a large-scale military response.

Israel last week announced a rocket was fired from northern Samaria, claiming it was the first-ever launching from the area. It said the weapon was a Jenin-1, a less advanced rocket that can travel about one mile. Israeli Defense Forces military censors had delayed publication of the incident for three weeks. The IDF did not carry out a large-scale retaliatory raid in response to the rocket firing.

Oudai told WND his group already has fired six rockets – not one – from northern Samaria.

"[The rocket in the news last week] was not the first time we shot rockets from Jenin to the settlements of the enemy inside the green line. It is the enemy who for the first time has admitted that these rockets exist in [Judea and Samaria] and that they were shot against Israeli targets. We have launched six times and with the help of Allah we will launch these rockets regularly and there will no calm, no cease fire until the occupation leaves our land."

Israeli security officials confirmed to WND at least three rockets so far have been launched from northern Samaria.

Oudai said his group's new Arafat-1 rocket is stockpiled in Judea and Samaria for future use and is the most advanced Palestinian rocket yet, warning it can hit Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

"The Arafat can reach every goal we want all over the enemy state. ... I don't need to tell you that the aerial distance from Jenin to Netania, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities is not big without telling what are all our plans concerning hitting Israeli settlements [in Judea and Samaria]. We can reach any point inside Israel, but I will not mention what are the regions we are ready to shoot from."

Israel has warned terrorists are attempting to transfer rockets from Gaza to Judea and Samaria. It has arrested several Palestinians attempting to infiltrate northern Samaria with rockets, sparking fears the rockets will become the new strategic weapon for Palestinian terror groups, frustrated over their admitted difficulty in carrying out suicide bombings due to Israel's uncompleted security fence.

The IDF has not been able to stop the rockets regularly fired from Gaza into nearby Israeli Negev towns. It previously responded with surgical missile strikes and artillery fire at areas it says are used to launch rockets. Last month, Israel set up a buffer zone in sections of Gaza occasionally used to fire rockets into Israel, but the Palestinian terrorists shifted their launching sites to other areas and have continued the attacks.

Asked if he fears Israel's threatened massive military response to his planned rocket firings, Oudai told WND, "Israel already has used all its tools. Tanks, aircrafts, assassinations and everything it could use. But we are still here and still fighting. We do not get excited from the Israeli threats. What can be this unprecedented reaction? They have already tried everything."

New Arafat missle

[Shammu]

January 10, 2006
Iran, Defiant, Insists It Plans to Restart Nuclear Program
By ELAINE SCIOLINO

PARIS, Jan. 9 - Defying its European partners and the United States, Iran plans to reopen its vast uranium enrichment complex to resume nuclear activities that it suspended 14 months ago, officials involved in negotiations with Iran said Monday.

Iran told the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency last week that it was planning to restart nuclear research and development, without specifying what type of activities it would resume, or where.

But in messages and letters to the agency in recent days, Iran said it planned to reopen the enrichment complex, in Natanz in central Iran, and perhaps an unspecified number of other sites, said the officials, who declined to be identified by name because they lack authorization to discuss the matter for attribution.

The Iranian move came in defiance of unusual separate messages delivered to the Tehran government over the weekend by Russia and China, as well as the United States, Britain and France. The messages warned Iran not to embark on further uranium activities.

Britain, France and the United States tried to have the five countries submit one joint declaration to Iran, but China, not wanting such a move to look like an attempt to gang up on Tehran, insisted that five separate messages be delivered. All said much the same thing.

European and American diplomats said enlisting China and Russia amounted to a further ratcheting up of pressure on Iran, because the five countries possess nuclear weapons and are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The United States wants the Council to impose sanctions on Iran if it does not abandon its suspected nuclear ambitions.

The stated plan by Iran to reopen its uranium enrichment plant reflects a high-stakes gamble by Iran to test its legal right to conduct certain nuclear activities under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty of 1968, the main treaty governing the spread of nuclear technology.

The United States, and to an increasing extent European governments, say they believe that Natanz is part of a long-suspected nuclear weapons program that they contend is more advanced than the Iraqi program was at its height under Saddam Hussein's rule.

The operations at the Natanz site were kept secret from the atomic energy agency and were not confirmed by its inspectors until February 2003. The inspectors found preparations for the construction of more than 50,000 centrifuges - tall, thin machines that spin at supersonic speed to enrich uranium so that it can be used in nuclear reactors.

When uranium is enriched to a very high degree, it can be used in a nuclear weapon. The fast-spinning centrifuges could make fuel for up to 20 nuclear weapons a year, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

For Iran's clerical leadership and even much of its population, Natanz is synonymous with modernity and power.

Iran insists that its goal at Natanz is to conduct research and produce fuel for a civilian nuclear power program. Some of Iran's most experienced nuclear scientists used to work there, and Iran described the closing of the complex - under an agreement with France, Britain and Germany in November 2004 to freeze most of its nuclear activities - as voluntary and temporary.

In Tehran, Gholam Hossein Elham, a government spokesman, said Monday at a news conference that Iran would resume nuclear research and development, as announced last week to the International Atomic Energy Agency. "Iran will today resume nuclear fuel research as scheduled," he said, without giving any details.

Agency officials in Vienna and their inspectors in Iran struggled without success throughout the day to wring information from the government about its plans, as Tehran had asked that the activities be carried out under the watchful eyes of the inspectors.

By day's end the agency said the research at Natanz had not yet restarted. "Our inspectors who were at the scene today reported that there was no new activity or breaking of seals," said Melissa Fleming, an agency spokeswoman.

The sticking point appears to be Iran's indecision about whether to merely test its equipment or go further and conduct experiments with nuclear fuel, which Mohamed ElBaradei, the international agency's director, called "a red line for the international community" in an interview on Monday with the BBC.

He urged Iran to "exercise maximum restraint," and predicted that the impasse with Iran "could turn into a major crisis," because of Iran's lack of full cooperation with his agency and its plans to restart nuclear research.

The international nuclear agency has failed to persuade Iran to turn over some important information about its nuclear history and to give agency inspectors access to certain sites. But Iran's lack of openness is a separate issue from whether it has a legal right to conduct nuclear research.

Dr. ElBaradei acknowledged that a wide array of nuclear activities were permitted under the nonproliferation treaty. "As a matter of law, Iran has the right to do all the nuclear activities, including enriching uranium," he told James P. Rubin in an interview on Monday with the London-based Sky News.

Iran's announcement that it planned to resume its nuclear research brought a new flurry of international condemnation.

"Very, very disastrous signals" are coming from Iran, Germany's new foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told reporters before a cabinet meeting outside Berlin.

The White House on Monday warned Iran that it might be referred to the United Nations Security Council for possible censure or sanctions. The international community has already warned Iran that "the next step would be a referral to the Security Council," said the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan.

Late last year, the 35-country board of the international nuclear agency voted to refer Iran's case for consideration by the Security Council if it did not meet its international obligations. But Russia, China and some other important countries are still resistant to Council action.

Marking the start of Austria's six-month presidency of the European Union on Monday, Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel said sanctions were always a "possibility," adding that the 25-country union had always considered them "a last resort."

Germany, France and Britain are concerned that Iran's newest move could shatter the agreement they reached in November 2004 under which Iran agreed to freeze most of its nuclear activities, including nuclear research, in exchange for a broad package of political and economic incentives.

Iran Defiant

[Shammu]

Iran has built 5,000 centrifuges, says opposition
Jan 10 2:28 PM US/Eastern


Iran has secretly built thousands of centrifuge machines for its nuclear plant at Natanz, an exiled opposition figure alleged.

The claims by opposition figure Alireza Jafarzadeh could not be independently verified, but if confirmed, they would likely enflame the worsening standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

The new allegations came hours after Iran resumed sensitive nuclear research after a two-year suspension, triggering fierce Western condemnation and risking censure by the UN Security Council.

Jafarzadeh, citing what he said was intelligence from the Iranian opposition and sources within the Iranian nuclear program, said Tehran had already committed serious violations before Tuesday.

"Iran has already manufactured as many as 5,000 centrifuge machines ready to be installed in Natanz, which is a clear breach of its agreements with the IAEA and the EU," Jafarzadeh, former spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said at a press conference here.

He said Iran had been continually building underground centrifuge cascade installation platforms at Natanz which could be used in the process of enriching uranium on a large scale suitable for a nuclear bomb.

Jafarzadeh released information in 2002 which amounted to the first outside glimpse into the Iranian nuclear program and which triggered International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scrutiny.

He said that work at Natanz was now so advanced that construction could be finished by the middle of this year, though it was unclear when installation of enrichment facilities would be complete.

"The 5,000 centrifuge machines are going to be installed in underground cascade halls. ... All of this has been going on while supposedly the program has been under freeze," he said.

Iran said Tuesday it was removing the seals on several nuclear operations, including a small 164-centrifuge cascade at Natanz -- which in itself would not be able to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon.

But it said enrichment remained frozen. Tehran denies that it is seeking a nuclear weapon, and it has been trying to draw a distinction between research into the fuel cycle and actual production of enriched uranium.

Paul Leventhal, president of the independent Nuclear Control Institute research group, appeared alongside Jafarzadeh at the press conference and called on the IAEA to act to see if his claims were true.

"If the information obtained by the Iranian opposition can be verified, ... then we have a major crisis on our hands," he said.

"Can such a remarkable allegation be true? There is only one way to find out. IAEA inspectors now standing at the Natanz site should demand immediate access to the areas where these secret activities allegedly are taking place."

Robert Einhorn, an independent expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who was not linked to the press conference, said Jafarzadeh had a mixed accuracy record on Iran's nuclear program.

"His organisation was on target in the summer of 2002. Without information from his organisation, we would largely be in the dark today on Iran's nuclear program.

"Having said that, his organisation's batting average over the last three years or so has not been very good," said Einhorn, who served as assistant secretary of state for non-proliferation between 1999 and August 2001.

"There is no way to evaluate the credibility of this information unless it is backed up by specific information on the whereabouts of the manufacture of these 5,000 centrifuge machines, and so on."

Einhorn did say, however, that the existence of such equipment would "be a large-scale violation of Iran's commitment to the Europeans and the IAEA board to suspend all manufacture of these centrifuge machines."

Jafarzadeh said military companies linked with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had built most of the alleged centrifuge parts but could not exactly pinpoint their location.

"The 5,000 centrifuges, I don't know exactly where they are. It is conceivable that some or all of them are already in Natanz," he said.

Iran has built 5,000 centrifuges, says opposition

[twobombs]

I personally won't venture into making predictions about this year but I do believe the cart has just started rolling but hasn't reached the downhill incline yet. When it does things will start moving really, really fast.

And that, my dear friends in Christ, is literally what the Lord has told me just a few days ago; the megadeath this from my part, and could be a year of, but once things are rolling, they will be rolling in the FAST LANE

[twobombs]

Sounds like a band. I think this rollercoaster, will be picking up steam, this year. But I will not make any  predictions. Though my Prophecymeter, is hitting the close to top, of the scale.

Dream, it is [also] the name of a rockband, but they lended the term from urban thermo-nucleair scenarios originating from the 80's.

[Shammu]

Islamic cleric called for Jews to die, London trial told

Wed Jan 11, 8:17 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri called for Jews, "infidels" and lapsed Muslims to be killed, a court in London heard as the soliciting-to-murder and race-hate case against him opened.

Opening the trial of the one-eyed, hook-handed former imam at Old Bailey criminal court, prosecutor David Perry said Hamza preached "murder and hatred" during his sermons and lectures.

"You will hear the tapes and you will hear that the defendant, Sheikh Abu Hamza, encouraged his listeners, whether they were an audience at a private meeting or congregation at a mosque, to believe that it was part of a religious duty to fight in the cause of Allah, God," he told the jury Wednesday.

"And as part of the religious duty to fight for Allah, it was part of the religious duty to kill. The people they were encouraged to kill were non-believers."

Egyptian-born Hamza, 47, who preached at Finsbury Park mosque in north London, faces a total of 15 charges, including nine of "soliciting to murder" and four of using language aimed at stirring up racial hatred.

One of the charges accused him of possessing a document, "The Encyclopaedia of the Afghani Jihad", which contained information "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".

Another accuses him of having video and audio recordings which he intended to distribute to stir up racial hatred.

His trial is expected to last three weeks.

Islamic cleric called for Jews to die, London trial told

[Soldier4Christ]

Muslim leader urges halt in Israel's Temple Mount excavations

The Associated Press
Thursday, January 5th, 2006 10:53 AM (PST)
JERUSALEM (AP) - The Holy Land's top Muslim cleric demanded that Israel halt an archaeological project near a central holy site for Muslims and Jews.

Israeli authorities recently unveiled an underground location that strengthens Jewish ties to the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). The site of ancient Jewish Temples now contains Islam's Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock and is revered as the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Israel has conducted archaeological digs nearby since it captured East Jerusalem in 1967. The digs infuriate Palestinians and the Islamic Trust that oversees the mosque complex.

In September, Israel opened a tourist center at an underground site near the compound that showcases a ritual bath from the period of the second Temple (destroyed in 70 A.D.) and a wall dating to the first Temple (destroyed in 586 B.C.).

The top Muslim clergyman, or mufti, of Jerusalem, Ikrema Sabri, on Tuesday called the archaeological project "aggression" that threatened the mosque compound.

In 1996, Palestinians rioted when Israel opened an archaeological tunnel alongside the compound, and 80 people died. Violence after then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the site in 2000 evolved into years of Palestinian uprisings that killed more than 3,500 Palestinians and more than 1,000 Israelis.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Temple Mount synagogue charge

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Islamic Movement accused Jews of secretly building a synagogue under the Al-Aksa Mosque.

Movement leader Sheik Raed Salah claimed Tuesday that Jews have prayed in a five-room complex built under cover of excavations on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, 100 yards from the site of Al-Aksa.

Salah has a history of fabricating incendiary charges about the Temple Mount to whip up Muslim anger against Israel, and Israel’s Antiquities Authority said his latest salvo had no basis in reality.

[Soldier4Christ]

Al Qaeda Moving Closer to Major Attack on Israel, Expert Says

By Julie Stahl

Jan 11, 2006

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - While it is still not clear whether al Qaeda operatives in Iraq carried out recent rocket attacks against northern Israel, the terror group plans to launch major attacks against the Jewish State in the near future, a leading expert here said.

Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for firing three Katyusha rockets from southern Lebanon into the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona two weeks ago. The attacks caused extensive damage but no injuries.

On Monday, an audio recording attributed to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, al Qaeda's top man in Iraq, said Osama bin Laden himself gave the orders to fire the rockets at northern Israel last month.

There was no confirmation that the voice on the website is indeed that of al Zarqawi, but the recording was placed on a website used by al Zarqawi's group, Organization of al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. (Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for massive bombings and abductions and beheadings of foreigners in Iraq. His current stated goal is to drive the U.S. and its allies out of Iraq.)

The voice on the recording said the rockets fired from south Lebanon at Israelis (whom he called "the ancestors of monkeys and pigs") "were only the start of a blessed in-depth strike against the Zionist enemy" and had been given "on the instructions" of Osama bin Laden.

Israel initially blamed a Palestinian group - the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command -- and targeted a PFLP-GC training base in Lebanon in retaliation.

But the PFLP-GC denied any involvement in the rocket attack, and a day later al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility on a website used by the group.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said last week that Israel was taking the al Qaeda claim seriously. Mofaz said Palestinian organizations in south Lebanon supplied the physical infrastructure for groups like Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda to act against Israel.

Matter of time

In general, the policy and strategy of al Qaeda is eventually to carry out attacks against Israel. "It's a matter of time. Now it's closer than before," said Dr. Yoram Kahati of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center near Tel Aviv.

Al Qaeda in Iraq previously has said that when it finishes in Iraq, it will launch attacks in neighboring countries, namely Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

But Israel is enemy number one for the group, Kahati said.

Kahati referred to a book written in Arabic and published this past summer, in which the author, Jordanian journalist Fuad Hussein, laid out al-Qaeda's long-term strategy.

"Israel is supposed to be the target [sometime between] 2006-2010...I assume our turn will come. In their mind, [they believe] it will," said Kahati.

Kahati said there are number of signs indicating that al Qaeda may soon set its sights on Israel.

In claiming responsibility for the November suicide bombings in Jordan, al Qaeda threatened to harm the Jewish State.

Al Qaeda said it was targeting "Jews and Crusaders" when it carried out suicide bombings at three hotels in Amman; and it threatened further action against Israel.

In statements claiming responsibility for recent rocket attacks on northern Israel, the perpetrators -- supposedly al Qaeda -- threatened that there was "worse to come," Kahati said.

He added it is not clear how the Palestinian terror groups would react to an al Qaeda presence here. Hamas, for instance considers al Qaeda attacks inspiring; but on the other hand the group would not want someone else stealing the limelight, Kahati said.

Earlier, al-Zarqawi said that when his group finished in Iraq, it would head for the al Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is a prominent rallying point for enlisting masses of Muslims in actions against Israel.

"It looks like their vision is developing [and] coming through step by step," said Kahati. "It's very worrying."

In the website posting this week, al-Zarqawi (or a voice claiming to be his) said there are two conditions for ending jihad (holy war) in the world.

"First, chase out the invaders from our territory in Palestine, in Iraq and everywhere in Islamic land," he said.

"Second, install sharia (Islamic religious law) on the entire Earth and spread Islamic justice there...The attacks will not cease until after the victory of Islam and the setting up of sharia," he said.

[2nd Timothy]

How does one govern such a people   

[Soldier4Christ]

How does one govern such a people   

[Shammu]

How does one govern such a people   

Hmmmmmmm,..................



A Rod of Iron!

[Shammu]

Israel 'can destroy' Iran nukes

By CLAUDE SALHANI
UPI International Editor

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Just a few days before Iran announced it was removing U.N. seals on its uranium enrichment equipment and resuming nuclear research, Israel's Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz said Iran's nuclear program "can be destroyed." He made the comments during a conference at Tel Aviv University, Israeli Army Radio reported.

Halutz, however, stated Iran's continued nuclear program "it is not only Israel's problem," but said the ball was in Iran's court.

"There is no doubt the Iranians are taking this to the brink," he said.

Binyamin Netanyahu, who replaced Ariel Sharon as the head of Likud, told United Press International last November much the same, that Iran was not only Israel's problem.

The possibility of Israel and the United States acting jointly to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities has long been discussed in war rooms in Washington and Tel Aviv since word first leaked out that Iran was developing a nuclear program.

If the decision is eventually taken to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, the odds, though, are that it will be Israel acting unilaterally. Any assistance from the United States will in all probability be limited to very discreet help provided by the U.S. intelligence community, such as offers of intelligence, satellite imagery and on the ground hum-int (human intelligence) data collected by opponents to the regime of the ayatollahs that finds it way to the CIA Headquarters at Langley, Va.

With about 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq -- and within easy reach of Iranian firepower, either in the form of direct rocket and artillery attack, or by Iraqi militia proxy, of which there is no shortage in Iraq -- it would be suicidal for the United States to attempt a direct attack on Iran.

 Reacting to Iran's decision to resume nuclear fuel production research, Israel's Foreign Ministry responded by issuing a statement saying, "It is clear that this step calls for a grave and immediate international response -- sending the issue to the United Nations Security Council." The Israeli Foreign Ministry said remitting the Iran dossier to the Security Council would "send a clear message that the international community will not reconcile with Iran's breaching its commitments."

Tehran denies it is developing nuclear fuel to produce weapons, saying its program is only to generate electricity.

Before the issue can be referred to the Security Council, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog based in Vienna, would need to take a vote on the matter. However, the 35-nation board at its last meeting in November put off a referral vote to allow diplomacy to take its course.

Yet clearly the diplomatic track has gone nowhere.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, president of Strategic Policy Consulting and a former Washington spokesman for Iran's parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said the dialogue between the European Union-3 (Britain, France, Germany) with Iran "is dead."

Jafarzadeh added: "The Iranian regime has made a conscious decision to acquire and impose a complete nuclear fuel cycle on the world community, which the regime mockingly describes as power diplomacy." The aim of Tehran's regime, says Jafarzadeh, is to proceed "step-by-step, until the international community is faced with a fait accompli."

For Israel to carry out pre-emptive strikes against Iran represents a real challenge. Unlike the now legendary strike on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, when the Israeli air force destroyed Iraq's sole reactor, and along with it Saddam Hussein's dreams of joining the nuclear club, Iran's reactor have been scattered all over the map. According to reports from the Mojahedeed-e-Khalq, a group opposed to the current regime in Tehran, Iran's Revolutionary Guards, to whom the task has been assigned to defend the nuclear sites, has buried Iran's nuclear facilities in deep underground bunkers, often underneath rock mountains. Additionally, unlike Osirak, where the Iraqis had built a single facility, the Iranian nuclear project is scattered around anywhere from 200 to 300 sites. It would be like searching for Waldo.

On the other hand, given Ariel Sharon's incapacitated state following a massive stroke, should Israel's interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is largely perceived as a lightweight by many Israeli voters, take it upon himself to order an attack on Iran -- and if it should prove to be successful -- it would almost guarantee Olmert and the new Kadima Party a win in next March 28 election.

The date also coincides with the "window of opportunity" intelligence experts say will then be closed. One diplomat speaking to United Press International on condition of anonymity, said there "should be a tremendous sense of urgency because of the cascades Iran has put into place. This is it."

Still, the foreign diplomat said, "Diplomacy is still the best outcome. The trick is to get China and Russia on board."

The question though is will China and Russia play ball?

Israel 'can destroy' Iran nukes

[Shammu]

World pressure mounts on Iran over nuclear dispute
Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:45 AM ET14

 By Louis Charbonneau

BERLIN (Reuters) - Moves to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for defying the world over its nuclear program gathered pace on Thursday as big powers announced plans for a crisis meeting in London next week.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany were expected to abandon talks with Iran and call for its referral to the council at a meeting in Berlin later on Thursday.

If the ministers agree to such a push, it would signify the end of 2-1/2 years of diplomatic effort by the European Union's three biggest nations to convince the Islamic republic to abandon its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect it intends to use to produce fuel for atomic weapons.

Iran says it only aims to develop a civilian nuclear power program in accordance with international law.

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said it was "highly probable" Iran would be referred to the Security Council after its decision to restart sensitive nuclear work this week.

The council could impose a range of sanctions on Tehran.

Straw, leaving for the Berlin meeting with his French and German counterparts and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said he thought Russia's views on Iran were akin to Britain's.

"Russia, too, has been extremely helpful. We've consulted with them very closely. It's for them to say what their position is, but I think you'll find they're in a very similar place to us," said Straw.

RUSSIAN, CHINESE MISGIVINGS

Russia, along with China, has previously resisted sending Iran to the Security Council over the nuclear dispute.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Ekho Moskvy radio his country, a big energy partner of Iran, was concerned about its latest moves. He said Moscow would do its best to persuade Tehran to renew its nuclear moratorium.

Russia is building a $1 billion nuclear reactor at Bushehr in Iran. China imports significant amounts of Iranian oil.

China said it hoped Iran would return to talks on the nuclear dispute and urged all parties to exercise restraint.

"We hope Iran can do more to promote mutual confidence between itself and the EU3, and return to negotiations," a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, Kong Quan, said.

Seeking an international consensus on sending Iran to the Security Council, Britain said it would host talks involving the United States, Russia, China and the EU3 next week.

Iran has completed the removal of U.N. seals on its nuclear fuel research sites, but will need time to refurbish machinery before it can start enriching uranium, a Western diplomat said.

Iran raised the stakes in its nuclear standoff with the West on Tuesday when it began to take off the seals placed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on equipment used to enrich uranium. The process can produce fuel for power stations or, if the uranium is highly purified, for bombs.

The diplomat, who is close to the IAEA and asked not to be named, said the Iranians would probably have to rebuild its entire cascade of enrichment centrifuges. "There's a lot of humidity, corrosion. It's going to take a long time," he added.

The sites were mothballed under a November 2004 agreement with France, Britain and Germany, which had been leading negotiations with Iran with Washington's blessing.

An EU3 diplomat said the plan for the Berlin meeting, due to start at 3:30 p.m. (1430 GMT), was "cancellation and referral" -- meaning scrapping talks with Iran unless it promises not to begin enriching uranium, and recourse to the Security Council.

OIL MARKET JITTERS

The mounting tensions sent crude oil prices sharply higher as concern grew that Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil exporter, may use oil exports as a retaliatory weapon against the West or that sanctions could hit oilfield investment.

U.S. crude futures were up 67 cents at $64.61 a barrel after rising 57 cents on Wednesday when prices hit a three-month high of $64.80 amid volatile trading.

EU patience with Tehran has been wearing thin for months. The EU3 broke off negotiations with Iran after it re-started uranium processing in August, but resumed talks last month.

European anger intensified after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and queried whether six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

European diplomats say they expect the IAEA's board of governors to convene in early February to discuss turning Iran's case over to the Security Council. They say a simple majority on the U.N. nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board favors such a move, but add that EU and U.S. officials want broader support.
World pressure mounts on Iran over nuclear dispute